Facebook is rolling its notifications with Messenger, Instagram into one

Facebook, the proud parent of Instagram and Messenger, wants to bring together its various apps into a more cohesive experience. The social networking site is rolling out a new feature that consolidates Facebook, Messenger and Instagram notifications on the Facebook app.

Tapping the circle icon in the top corner will open a menu with all your notifications.

Gordon Gottsegen/CNET

While this aims to encourage users to stay on Facebook’s services longer, it will also make it a tad easier to check your notifications and get rid of those annoying red badges at the same place.

To see if you can receive the new feature, update your Facebook app and then check for a circle icon in the top right corner of your newsfeed. The circle will show if you have any unread notifications. After tapping on it, you’ll have the option to switch between Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.

In a statement to CNET, Facebook said it’s “conducting a very small test” to make it easier for people to switch between their Facebook, Messenger and Instagram accounts, so not everyone may be able to access this new notification system.

This is hardly the first time Facebook has integrated its various services. Older versions of the Facebook app had the Messenger icon in that corner, which would then launch the Messenger app. You’ve also been able to post a photo on Facebook through the Instagram app for quite some time.

However, this new feature puts the option to toggle between all three apps in one place. By doing so, you can get your social media fix without jumping from one app to the next and leaving Facebook — just how the company intended it.